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Viva Las Vegas

A few friends and myself will be heading out to Vegas in May and I just wanted to know what tips folks had from experiences out there in terms of what's up out there. We're all in our mid-20s and have traveled together before, but we've never (any of us) been to Vegas. So what tips do you folks have who have been there?

A few friends and myself will be heading out to Vegas in May and I just wanted to know what tips folks had from experiences out there in terms of what's up out there. We're all in our mid-20s and have traveled together before, but we've never (any of us) been to Vegas. So what tips do you folks have who have been there?

Bring a mixed wardrobe, casual and dressy, if you want to hit up different aspects of the strip. The casinos don't really have a dress code, but many of the clubs and restaurants do.

If you end up planning to see a show, make sure that you have plenty of time to get to the venue and find your seats and the like. We made the mistake of going to a fancy restaurant beforehand and barely made it to see Penn and Teller.

DO. NOT. DRINK. AND. DRIVE. The majority of the billboards you will see off/near the strip are advertisements for DUI attorneys. So hint-hint on what the local cops are on the lookout for. If you find yourself without a DD, get a cab back to your hotel. You can't hail a cab off of the strip itself, but most of the casinos have taxis at the main entrance just waiting for customers.

There's no open container laws on the strip for pedestrians, so you can walk into a convenience store, buy a beer, and just walk the strip while seeing the sights. My friends got married while we were there and this is what we did instead of having an after party/reception. It was amazingly fun and lots of random strangers went out of their way to offer them congratulations, advice, and free drinks to all of us.

If you gamble, drinks will be free. The frequency of a waitress appearing depends on what you're playing and how well you tip. If you're at a card table, drinks show up quick regardless of how tight you are with your tips. If you're sitting at a slot machine, tip well or you won't be getting more than one drink an hour.

Vegas is suffering because of the economy and what not, so you can find really nice things (such as show tickets and drinks) for really cheap if you use a service through your hotel.
I absolutely advise you to gamble whole you are there and to let loose, but make sure to be responsible and safe! Vegas does more than get dirty after dark...
Also, make sure you go on the roller coaster on the top of the New York New York hotel! The inside of the hotel also has some awesome arcade games to check out.

If you get sick of all the fancy-ass casinos on the strip, take a cab up to freemont street (just a few miles north of the strip, near the stratosphere). Lots of cheap casinos, cheap drinks, etc.. Definitely tacky though, but it's something to check out.

If you get sick of all the fancy-ass casinos on the strip, take a cab up to freemont street (just a few miles north of the strip, near the stratosphere). Lots of cheap casinos, cheap drinks, etc.. Definitely tacky though, but it's something to check out.

Seriously. There's also a light show thing that's kind of cool, and the Golden Gate now has pole-dancing women wearing skimpy closing in the middle of their blackjack tables, if that's your thing. Main Street Station (just off Fremont) also has a brewpub that serves some good beers; it's worth going out there for one night just to check out.

I lived out in LA and we took a few trips into Vegas and I have to say budgeting myself was the best choice I could have made.

2) Put a limit on how much time you spend gambling.

Wear a wristwatch and set the alarm for X# of minutes so you know its time to go, its easy to get caught up and "just play one more and you'll hit it" so having that cue to leave is helpful in keeping with your budget.

3) Go see the fountains

The Bellagio fountains at night you are required to go and watch it. Its free and worth it and then some.

4) The Amazing Johnathan.

This is MANDATORY if your in vegas to go see one of his shows, seriously its a great show and a awesome way to burn an evening.

5) Have a nice dinner

I'm not talking spending $100 on a steak or anything, some of the casino buffets are nice enough to make due. I'm just saying put on your nice duds and go have a nice classy dinner with your friends.

6) Be careful

Yeah Vegas has the glitz and the glam but its still got some shady stuff going on, if you go into a place as a group you stay as a group. This isn't just to keep you safe but even having a second person there to tell you to call it a night from drinking or gambling can save you a ton.

7) The Stratosphere

Go there, pay to go to the top, and go on the rides. Seriously the Skyjump is the best thing you can do in vegas if you don't crap your pants and the Bigshot (which is a great thing to do at night) is pretty crazy. All the rides are good and they usually have a vendor selling cheap "reride" cards to ride the rides again at half price.

As said a casino card is a good thing and the coupon books (buy X$ of chips and get X$ free) are super good things to take advantage of, if your going as a group you can even all kick in and take advantage of some of the better coupon deals they offer.

If your going as a tourist I'd stay near the strip and check the AAA (triple A) book to see which hotels are rated decently, getting to far off can drop you into some shady areas. Freemont street is worth a try but keep your wallet in your front pocket (and I put a rubber band around it).

Hey hey! I was just in Vegas at the beginning of February for a bachelor party. So, I feel like I have some appropriate advice.

First of all: Buffet of Buffets. It's an all day pass to the Harrah's branded casino buffets. This includes Planet Hollywood (one of the best on the strip), Paris, Harrah's, Bally's, and Caeser's Palace. It costs ~50, so after 3 trips, you're set. It's pretty solid way to enjoy a lot of the buffets on the strip for a good price. Try to get a brunch in if you are there for a Sunday.

Next up. Ice Bar. This was a great place to hang out for a while. Basically, the entire bar is made out of ice, and the bar is kept at -5 deg C (except the floor). You pay 35, get 2 drink cards, and they give you a coat and gloves. The glasses are made out of ice as well (keep your glass, the bartenders get mad if you don't bring your glass back). Also, we got to play tag with a guy dressed as a penguin. Overall, it was probably the most fun we had while there. The bar was awesome, really unique, and it was incredibly fun.

Third: if you want a fancy dinner with a view you wont soon forget (/guide book) go have dinner at The Top of the World Restaurant, It's at the top of the Stratosphere, in a rotating room overlooking both the Strip and Downtown. It was AWESOME. Also, dinner was really good, service was really good, and afterwards they let you on the roof. It was really awesome, and it's a view you can't get at any other steakhouse in Vegas.

but try not to blow all your money too quickly. probably a good idea to set a day to day budget.

other than that, what are you guys into? do you want to go clubbing, strip club, or maybe see a show? the more specific you can get about your interests, the better recommendations you'll get. cause listen, you can literally do anything in vegas...

right now, the hottest hotel in town is the Cosmo. it's a cool place to see and be seen, if you're into that stuff. i mean, you're young and male, so i'm assuming it'll pertain to your interests.

I definitely know that I'll need to set a limit when gambling but I'm also decent at counting cards so I'm not too worried about walking away with a loss. As far as the floor goes though, what's appropriate to tip for a beer? A buck? It is just a beer after all.

Regarding bars and such (and thanks for the tip on the Ice Bar, that sounds awesome) what time is good to get there and is there a last call in Vegas? We'll be flying down so I doubt we'll have to worry about drunk driving.

Also, how dressy? It'll be in May and I don't want to sweat my ass off in a full suit.

I know I'd definitely like to check out at least one show while we're there and Penn and Teller, Cirque du Soleil, and the Amazing Jonathan all sound great (any other suggestions here are more than welcome).

Could someone explain how casino cards work?

And as far as sinning goes, dunno if I'd mind checking out a strip club or not. What's the scene there like?

***EDIT***

I wouldn't mind a few more bar suggestions, but I also wouldn't mind a few more afternoon activity suggestions. Gambling and drinking near a pool will be nice I imagine, but what else is there?

Be wary about the room situation if you're staying on the Strip. The Imperial Palace in particular has screwed over a lot of people I know that have visited. They have extremely cheap room rates, but what they don't tell you is that the cheap rooms are all exactly facing out over the Strip, and they are not sound-proofed in the least, and there's an extremely loud 24 hour bar/club next door that pipes music out into the street. If you stay in one of those cheapy rooms, it will sound like a stereo is on in your room 24/7, and then you have to pay to get upgraded to the expensive rooms on the other side of the hotel.

Whatever you do, do not walk between the Strip and Fremont Street. It's not that far a walk, but it's pretty much the most dangerous section of the city because there are a lot of muggers and pick pockets that roam that area specifically preying on drunk tourists that think the walk is no big deal. Even during the day I won't walk that route.

For strip clubs, Spearmint Rhino is pretty much the best hands down in terms of the attractiveness of the girls, but it can get very expensive and they hustle hard there. It also gets incredibly packed, especially weekend nights, to the point of it possibly being overwhelming.

Treasures would probably be good in that it's got a pretty up scale atmosphere and isn't too crazy crowded. It would probably be more enjoyable than the Rhino.

If you sign up for player's club cards at the various casinos, you often get free shit (show tickets, fanny packs, key chains, free slot play, etc.) and when you gamble on a machine you insert the card they give you and accumulate points. You can then redeem those points for things. You need kind of a lot of points to get anything, if you keep all your gambling to one place you might accumulate enough points to get something, but I think you usually get more free useless junk just going around signing up at every player's club than actually gaining points on the cards.

My favorite 24 hour food spot on the Strip is at the Venetian, I think it's called the Grand Lux Cafe. It's very similar to the Cheesecake Factory and I find it better than most of the other 24 hour casino restaurants which tend to be just very generic diner food.

If you end up renting a car and drive to Fremont Street, the best parking is in the underground garage at Neonopolis. It's basically an almost abandoned mall, they have an art gallery and a jewelry store and Telemundo has a studio there I think. Other than that it's empty, but the parking is never full and reasonably priced and deposits you right on the Fremont Street Experience.

All the parking on the Strip in the casinos is free, except for at City Center I think, where it might or might not be but it's definitely valet only so you have to tip and it's kind of pointless when every other spot has free parking.

If you don't rent a car, there's a monorail that goes up and down most of the Strip, and I think you can buy all day passes pretty cheap and just hop from casino to casino on it.

Also, how dressy? It'll be in May and I don't want to sweat my ass off in a full suit.

Full suit/black tie is probably overkill. A dress shirt, slacks, and nice shoes would probably be enough.

Wouldn't worry about sweating too much...the ambient humidity hovers right around 0. Speaking of, do drink water regularly. You'll feel fine right up until you don't; dehydration can set in quicker than you think, especially if you're drinking alcohol before/while you're out in the heat.

In my experience you can get in to any bar on the strip with a dress shirt + nice jeans, so wear whatever you feel comfortable in imo, at some places like pure you'll feel out of place without a sportscoat, but they'll let you in wearing pretty much anything better than a t-shirt. Oddly enough my favorite bar was probably the rockhouse, which is the one right outside the imperial palace. It's a tiny, hole in the wall low scale place, but it's always incredibly fun and friendly, kinda like a party rather than a bar.

Can't help much with afternoon activities as whenever I go to vegas me and my friends usually adopt a stumble back to the hotel room at 5 or 6 am, sleep until 5 or 6 pm schedule

Ah, okay. That's usually what I wear out anyway so that's not a big deal at all.

And I love late nights too, but I make a point to try and not sleep more than six or seven hours a night when on vacation so I can get the most out of my stay as possible. There's always time for an early sleep or two back home.

Re: afternoon activities, there's an awesome place on Tropicana called The Pinball Hall of Fame. They virtually have every pinball machine ever made there (~150) and they are constantly being kept in top condition. If you like pinball, you'll spend a long time in there.

HueSatVal on February 2011

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lonelyahavaIf I confuse you, I blame the infantsleep-deprived new mommyRegistered Userregular

Mandalay Bay has an aquarium, Luxor has (had) a recreation of Tut's Tomb and a 3d ride thing.

Also, if you're into magic, and you want a good dinner, head over to Caesar's Palace. There's a thing there called the Caesar's Experience (I think that's what it was called). it's about 75 bucks a person, BUT, you get fantastic dinner and 3 magic shows (slight of hand, middle distance, full illusions), plus drinks at the bars downstairs. It's flashy, it's showy, it's not that expensive. The food is fantastic, the magics pretty good too.

The bars have a magic piano that will play just about any song you request in one of them, the other has (had) a holographic talking sprite type thing on the bar top. I can't vouch for the alcohol as I was only 20 when I was there.

Also, if you're going to be in the area and have access to a vehicle, then I must insist you drive out to Hoover Dam. I promise you that it is worth the drive. I promise.

Just walking around in the different casinos is awesome. I was there for a week, couldn't gamble or drink, and had a fantastic time (other than the company I was with, but I got the trip for free so...). Dinner at Caesar's, dinner at Emerils... I spent most of my time wandering from casino to casino, checking out all the immersion stuff.

You're probably legal to drink and gamble, so you'll have more to do than me.

Fremont street is highly enjoyable from a history point of view. But underage are not allowed in the casino parts at all, as I found out.

Honestly I wasn't to thrilled with the BMG, its really a if you dig them and their music you'll like it type of thing. Otherwise your just more interesting at staring at the chick with huge knockers one row ahead of you.

Never play poker at a table that has a maximum rake larger than $4 and never play at a blackjack table that doesn't pay 3:2 on blackjack. Tip your dealers and your waitresses (when I played poker, it was common to hit the dealer with a buck or two for every pot you win and I tipped the waitress $1 for every drink. I rarely had an empty glass).

There are people on the street selling bottled water for a dollar, so if you get thirsty, buy one from them instead of the casino. Not only are you helping out the little man, you can refill your bottle later on.

Walk through all the casinos. They're really neat, if somewhat gaudy and tacky.

Excalibur has decent enough rooms for cheap, without the falling apartness you can get at other places. It's also suitably close to the monorail (across the street at the back of the MGM), and has a separate tram that goes to Luxor and Mandalay.

Imperial Palace is right around the halfway point, but getting in and out is a total nightmare. It is one tower, with about 3 elevators total.

The aquarium at Mandalay is quite nifty.

On shows, the Tournament of Kings at excalibur is pretty fun. All the Cirque shows are fantastic, Ka in particular is fantastic.

I'll second Don Rickles being awesome.

For slightly off-strip stuff, the Hard Rock casino is pretty nice. Hofbrauhaus is across the street, for fantastic beer and good german food.

There is no point whatsoever to renting a car, unless you plan on heading somewhere outside the city. Getting up and down the strip generally tops out at around 11 bucks for a cab.

General roundup of where I've stayed, what I've seen, etc:

Hotels:

Excalibur -- cheap, decently centralized location for hitting things on that end of the strip.

Mandalay Bay -- rather pricey if you don't have a line on a deal, but the rooms are excellent. Jacuzzi tubs, larger rooms, etc.

MGM -- Somewhat of a midpoint between the above two. Layout can make the walk to the room a bit long if you use the wrong elevators.

Piano Bar at Harrahs: awesome time. Get there before 9 if you can stomach karaoke, after 9 it switches to Dueling Pianos. Thursdays through (I think) Saturdays they have some smoking hot blonde twins on the pianos, great for drunken singalongs to AC/DC, Beastie Boys, etc.

Dick's Last Resort at Excalibur: Waiters/bartenders snark a bit, cover band they have playing evenings is pretty awesome.

I definitely know that I'll need to set a limit when gambling but I'm also decent at counting cards so I'm not too worried about walking away with a loss.

You do realize that a casino can ask you to leave if they even think you're doing something like this, right? If you get caught, not only do you get the boot, I'm pretty sure they take your photo and circulate it through the rest of the casinos to warn them about what you tried to do. So you won't be able to gamble anywhere. It's best to just let the cards fall where they may.

I definitely know that I'll need to set a limit when gambling but I'm also decent at counting cards so I'm not too worried about walking away with a loss.

You do realize that a casino can ask you to leave if they even think you're doing something like this, right? If you get caught, not only do you get the boot, I'm pretty sure they take your photo and circulate it through the rest of the casinos to warn them about what you tried to do. So you won't be able to gamble anywhere. It's best to just let the cards fall where they may.

I definitely know that I'll need to set a limit when gambling but I'm also decent at counting cards so I'm not too worried about walking away with a loss.

You do realize that a casino can ask you to leave if they even think you're doing something like this, right? If you get caught, not only do you get the boot, I'm pretty sure they take your photo and circulate it through the rest of the casinos to warn them about what you tried to do. So you won't be able to gamble anywhere. It's best to just let the cards fall where they may.

Also, counting cards with a 6 deck shoe is somewhat harder.

Also most people are "decent on counting cards" and "have a system" till they start losing hard and their plan goes to shit.

I definitely know that I'll need to set a limit when gambling but I'm also decent at counting cards so I'm not too worried about walking away with a loss.

You do realize that a casino can ask you to leave if they even think you're doing something like this, right? If you get caught, not only do you get the boot, I'm pretty sure they take your photo and circulate it through the rest of the casinos to warn them about what you tried to do. So you won't be able to gamble anywhere. It's best to just let the cards fall where they may.

Also, counting cards with a 6 deck shoe is somewhat harder.

Yeah. Unless you're a savant or spend 40+ hours/week doing it, you're not "decent" at counting cards. If you are good at it, the casino will probably bust you before you win a decent amount. This isn't your buddy's cash game in his kitchen - these are big boy casinos.

Okay, I went there last year in the middle of the summer, so walking around during the day was moderately unbearable (was okay at night).

Several button up shirts, slacks, decent shoes and at least one jacket are good things to have, since it's okay to be over dressed and some places won't let you in if you're under dressed. I stayed at the Rio which is off the strip. I had a great time, tables are about middle priced, and I played a ton of craps (won @ $500). Betting the pass line in craps isn't the worst bet in the world, depending on what it pays at the casino you're at. You can play for hours that way.

I gave $1 or $2 tips for drinks and it was never empty unless I passed on one. Penn and Teller's show is at the Rio so I checked them out and the bar on the roof has a great view (nightclub isn't bad, some folks ahead of me got turned away, but I got in fine -- there's usually a guy in the area by it that has tickets for the place so you can get in).

I walked back from the strip one night. A suggestion. I was at a conference so I was alone other than co-workers who I left at Paris after dinner. Don't walk alone. I ended up being irritated by the lack of cabs at 10 p.m. after dinner so I decided to walk the 3/4 mile or so from Paris to the Rio. I wasn't mugged or anything, but there was a bit of a back and forth with a drunk guy who bumped into me (I presume to pick my pocket but I keep my wallet up in my front pocket). I just walked away. Also, had a woman do the "my car is broke down over there (dark alley), can you come look at it and help me out" thing. As much as I'm a chivalrous dude, I'm not an idiot.

If you're drinking alone or without female company at most casinos you probably will have a call girl see if you want to hang out. Happened to me twice. And, no I didn't take them up on it.

There's a restaurant in Paris right across from the Bellagio fountains on the ground floor that was wonderful. I think it was Mon Ami Gabi. Look at their menu their Lemon Chicken Paillard was unbelievable. And, for a nice dinner it wasn't crazy overpriced (I'm sure you could get cheaper elsewhere, but it was a quality place with a great ambiance).

Have a great time, just do drink too much (getting drunk is fine if you're not driving, but it is very easy to loose track of how much you've been drinking) and drink a good amount of water.

I definitely know that I'll need to set a limit when gambling but I'm also decent at counting cards so I'm not too worried about walking away with a loss.

You do realize that a casino can ask you to leave if they even think you're doing something like this, right? If you get caught, not only do you get the boot, I'm pretty sure they take your photo and circulate it through the rest of the casinos to warn them about what you tried to do. So you won't be able to gamble anywhere. It's best to just let the cards fall where they may.

Also, counting cards with a 6 deck shoe is somewhat harder.

Also most people are "decent on counting cards" and "have a system" till they start losing hard and their plan goes to shit.

The only "system" worth a damn is memorizing the table of what to do in a given situation in blackjack. You still can't get an advantage over the house, but you can reduce their advantage as much as mathematically possible.

Think of gambling as any other entertainment experience. Figure out what you're willing to spend to be entertained and stick to it. Maybe you'll have a good run (I won $5000 or so playing blackjack last time we were in Vegas), but that shouldn't be your expectation.

Anyway, gambling is only part of the Vegas experience. And keep in mind that the somewhat attractive women gambling alone at 3 in the morning aren't there for the ambience.

Bring a mixed wardrobe, casual and dressy, if you want to hit up different aspects of the strip. The casinos don't really have a dress code, but many of the clubs and restaurants do.

Definitely recommend this advice to anyone going as well. Jeans and a t-shirt are fine for afternoons, but I really wouldn't advise going anywhere (gambling or otherwise) in anything without a collar, especially if you plan on trying to strike up a conversation with a lady or two.

Go there, pay to go to the top, and go on the rides. Seriously the Skyjump is the best thing you can do in vegas if you don't crap your pants and the Bigshot (which is a great thing to do at night) is pretty crazy. All the rides are good and they usually have a vendor selling cheap "reride" cards to ride the rides again at half price.

If you want a fancy dinner with a view you wont soon forget (/guide book) go have dinner at The Top of the World Restaurant, It's at the top of the Stratosphere, in a rotating room overlooking both the Strip and Downtown. It was AWESOME. Also, dinner was really good, service was really good, and afterwards they let you on the roof. It was really awesome, and it's a view you can't get at any other steakhouse in Vegas.

It was windy a lot of the weekend so the rides weren't open, but we decided to have one "nice" dinner while we were there and I couldn't imagine going anywhere other than the rotating restaurant they had at the top of the tower. It was a little pricey and they had a dress code, but getting to see the entire town lit up at night like that was definitely worth it.

On a side-note, we rode the roller coaster at New York, New York and I loved it. It's 14 bucks a ride but if you pay 60 for four people you get two free pictures at the end, which I would definitely recommend doing to anyone looking for a bit of a thrill on the Strip.

Ice Bar. This was a great place to hang out for a while. Basically, the entire bar is made out of ice, and the bar is kept at -5 deg C (except the floor). You pay 35, get 2 drink cards, and they give you a coat and gloves. The glasses are made out of ice as well (keep your glass, the bartenders get mad if you don't bring your glass back). Also, we got to play tag with a guy dressed as a penguin. Overall, it was probably the most fun we had while there. The bar was awesome, really unique, and it was incredibly fun.

We were gambling in Mandalay Bay and decided to check this out and it was pretty enjoyable. It kind of stunk that you weren't allowed to a camera in (we did anyway) and it was a bit crowded, but we still had fun and it's definitely one of those things you can't do anywhere back home.

Spearmint Rhino is pretty much the best hands down in terms of the attractiveness of the girls, but it can get very expensive and they hustle hard there. It also gets incredibly packed, especially weekend nights, to the point of it possibly being overwhelming.

Everyone kept talking up the Rhino so we decided to check it out and it did not disappoint. Not a bad girl of the bunch and they were definitely enthusiastic about their work.

On a side note for anyone else considering the trip, on our first day there someone warned us that cab drivers get paid off by Asian massage parlors late at night for every drunk guy they bring in for a "happy ending," and every night we traveled home around five or so this ended up being true. So be wary if you're in a cab and your driver starts acting like your best friend who's doing you a favor.

Also, if you're into magic, and you want a good dinner, head over to Caesar's Palace. There's a thing there called the Caesar's Experience (I think that's what it was called). it's about 75 bucks a person, BUT, you get fantastic dinner and 3 magic shows (slight of hand, middle distance, full illusions), plus drinks at the bars downstairs. It's flashy, it's showy, it's not that expensive. The food is fantastic, the magics pretty good too.

We didn't end up having enough time to make it to this so I am quoting it so I'll remember it for the next time we go.

You do realize that a casino can ask you to leave if they even think you're doing something like this, right? If you get caught, not only do you get the boot, I'm pretty sure they take your photo and circulate it through the rest of the casinos to warn them about what you tried to do. So you won't be able to gamble anywhere. It's best to just let the cards fall where they may.

Also most people are "decent on counting cards" and "have a system" till they start losing hard and their plan goes to shit.

We found a few places with single deck Blackjack and I ended up making pretty decent money, so that wasn't a problem at all. I doubt they were too worried about losing that little money.

A lot of tips were given for shows to check out but we eventually decided on checking out Beatles LOVE. It was extraordinary and like nothing I'd ever seen before. Even better, there wasn't a bad seat in the entire house (and I say this as someone who bought the lower-end of the tickets available).

So thanks again to everyone who gave some input, and I'm sure I'll bump this come fall when we head back!

Unfortunately we ended up staying at the Hilton, which wasn't a bad place by any means whatsoever (and had the biggest/best Sports Book we'd end up seeing anywhere), but it's not on the Strip. I had no idea that Memorial Day weekend was the biggest weekend in Vegas (apart from New Year's Eve) and that the prices of hotels would explode for anything on The Strip.

HOWEVER, if you're in a similar situation I would recommend staying there. We saved about $100/night by staying there and we also had a stop on the monorail that was able to quickly get us to and from some of the bigger places without too much trouble at all. The rooms were actually really nice too.